Last November Thierry Breton, chief executive of international technology group Atos, caused a sensation after he announced plans to ban internal email within three years, describing it as a ‘pollutant’ and claiming that just 15 per cent is actually worthwhile.
The French boss of Atos, which employs 74,000 staff across 42 countries, calculated that his managers spent 15 to 20 hours a week checking and answering internal emails which he categorised as ‘an instrument to shirk responsibility’.
A range of new tools including social networks, instant messaging, micro blogging and document sharing will replace the company’s internal email system by 2014.